London: Actor Tom Bateman will soon be seen on TV screens in brand new superhero-inspired adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde and he says he took inspiration from Heath Ledger's Joker for his role on the show.

Writer Charlie Higson has already described Bateman as a "sexy" update of the doctor with the split personality, who will be the grandson of the title character in Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale.

Bateman said that watching Heath Ledger's take on The Joker in "The Dark Knight" was a big influence on how he played Hyde.

"Jekyll is quite close to me, a little bit more shy. Whereas Hyde is a mish-mash of lots of things. I didn't realise I was borrowing it throughout the auditions ? but Heath Ledger's Joker was an influence.

"You love watching the Joker, and yes that's what I was doing, subconsciously that. I'd obviously seen it and it had embedded it self a little bit. A Clockwork Orange also has that sort of gross, wry smile, which you actually enjoy, weirdly enough. Audiences, we all love watching those characters. Hyde's a bit of a mish-mash of those alpha-male, slightly odd, wiry, nasty people that they've still got a twinkle in their eye," the actor said.